1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to written diagnostic tests and more particularly to a written diagnostic test whose physical structure permits the answers to interrogatories to be placed on the test near the space where the student's answers are to be recorded, without being visible to the student, and which contemplates the use of a series of written prescriptions whereby the grader may indicate any of a choice of references for remediation appropriate to the needs and ability of the student.
2. Discussion of the Prior Art
The written examination has long been used as a testing and instructional device in education. In response to interrogatories on a typical written examination, a student records an answer on paper, which is sometimes provided with special lines, boxes or other notation to indicate a place for the answer. In correcting a simple and short examination, a grader may rely upon his or her memory to supply the correct response to a question which is then compared with the student's response to measure the student's performance. An examination of greater length or complexity, however, may require a grader to use a "key", extraneous sheets of paper upon which are recorded the answers to the interrogatories. Use of a key requires a grader to physically look to the key for the correct response, then look to the student's paper to compare the response which the student has recorded. Use of a key is not only time consumming and fatiquing for the grader, but it introduces errors caused by the inadvertent comparison of the correct answer of one question with the student's response to another.
More reliable and more efficient methods of grading examinations are obviously known to the art. One method is the use of a multiple choice examination wherein the student supplies an answer in a specific location on the test paper. The test may then be graded by placing a punctuated sheet over the students answer sheet in which apertures in the sheet correspond to the locations on the student's answer sheet where the correct answer should appear. The disadvantage of using punctuated answer sheets is that they only facilitate the grading of various objective type examinations, such as those requiring multiple choice or true-false answers, and not other modes of examination, such as those requiring short written answers.
Examinations may also be mechanically graded. While mechanical grading is extremely reliable because it eliminates human error and is theoretically faster, in practice it is impractical because it is expensive and the grading means are not easily accessible for the ordinary classroom teacher. Mechanical grading usually requires that the examinations be collected and sent to a distant location for grading. Frequently, the time required for shipping, grading and returning examinations is much greater than the time that would be required if the instructor personally scored the examination. In any event, machine grading is only possible for multiple choice responses eliminating other modes of examination such as short answer and fill-in-the-blank type questions.
Similar in some respects to the present invention is a physical structure used by the Nelson-Denny Reading Test, published by Houghton Mifflin Company. This prior-art test consists of an examination booklet and an answer sheet. The answer sheet comprises two sheets of paper bonded together at the margins, the top surface of the lower sheet containing a carbon coating. The top surface of the upper sheet contains a series of blocks wherein the student indicates his answer. The blocks are arranged so that all answers for a particular page of the test booklet are placed in a single column of the answer sheet. The top surface of the bottom sheet contains a carbon coating which transposes marks made on the top surface of the upper sheet to the backside of the upper sheet where a single box is located corresponding to the box representing the correct choice in the series of boxes placed on the opposite side. The grader or machine which scores the examination counts the blackened spaces. While this physical structure makes it easier for the grader to score the examination, the mode of testing is limited to multiple choice and true-false type questions, and the corrected answer sheet neither supplies a meaningful correct answer nor references a source of materials to remediate the student's deficiencies.
Accordingly, the physical structure of the present invention is an improvement over the art, because by placing the printed answer in proximity to the space where the student's response is recorded, the grader can immediately mark the examination without resort to an answer sheet or a key, and the student is supplied with a correct answer to the question without further effort by the instructor. The present invention contemplates the use of any of several modes of questioning, such as objective, short answer, true-false, or multiple choice responses. Because the examination can be rapidly graded and returned to the student with correct answers furnished thereon, the examination becomes a more effective teaching device. The value of the present invention is further enhanced by the use of prescriptions which are supplied on the scoring sheet itself. A series of prescriptions printed on the scoring sheet permits the teacher to select one as a source of further study for the student. Use of the prescriptions in conjunction with the rapid grading and corrected answer sheet supplies an effective teaching tool which is relatively inexpensive and which consumes relatively little of the instructor's time.